A new friend in Tennessee asked yesterday if we’d post a heads up for an event – actually a wake to mourn the figurative pending death of the river – the Save the Nolichucky folks are putting on next Sunday the 23rd at the Conway Bridge between Cocke and Greene Counties.
The backstory is a long one.
The issue revolves around cooling water needs for an industrial plant (coming in), owned by U.S. Nitrogen, and the wheeling and dealing done by the local county (Greene) and corporate interests to meet the daily waters needs of the plant (up to 1.9 million gallons per day in some reports).
So as not to swamp you with details, the plant’s water needs were originally to have been met by a local water utility (Old Knox Utility District), however the utility’s rates were too high and negotiations for a lower rate unfruitful.
A plan was then hatched to construct a dual pipeline (intake and effluent return) along a public road and right of way, though technically that could not be done as only public utilities can be granted such access in TN. The local Industrial Development Board then stepped in and offered to claim ownership of the pipeline (as a public utility of sorts), even though the corporation would pay for the construction and maintenance of the lines.
We agree it doesn’t appear to pass the smell test.
A grassroots, plucky group (Save the Nolichucky) formed and tried advocacy and negotiation and ultimately progressed to legal proceedings; details of the battle are well represented on the group’s site.
The fight isn’t over, but it appears pipeline construction is proceeding.
Hopefully shining a bit more light on the issue will push a reprieve as time runs out for the Nolichucky.
